The present invention relates to a combination vehicle assembly in which the motor of one vehicle provides the power to drive the assembly.
Such combination vehicle assemblies may, for example, comprise a house trailer or mobile home together with a truck or other automobile, or a farm implement such as a mower driven by a tractor or other vehicle.
In the area of recreational vehicles or homes on wheels, there are currently two basic arrangements. One is the motorless housetrailer or mobile home which is towed by a second vehicle such as a car or truck. The other is a motor home or self-powered mobile home. The former arrangement has the advantage that the towing vehicle is available for use independently of the mobile home on arrival at the destination. However, there will be some wear and tear on the towing vehicle's engine from towing the relatively heavy trailer, and the combination can tend to be quite unstable in heaving winds, for example.
The self-powered mobile home has the disadvantage that there is no smaller vehicle for local use on arrival at a destination. Thus, this type of mobile home is often seen towing an extra vehicle. Self-powered mobile homes are also relatively expensive, both in initial purchase and maintenance costs.
Other combinations of towed and towing vehicles are used in various fields. For example, farm implements such as ploughs and threshers are commonly towed by tractors. However, tractors are not suitable for extensive on-road use and the farmer must normally purchase other vehicles, such as cars or trucks for off the farm or leisure use. Automobiles or trucks cannot normally tow farm implements since the small tires of such vehicles provide insufficient traction. Thus, a farmer must purchase and maintain several vehicles, at considerable expense, in order to run a farm efficiently.
Other two or more combined vehicle assemblies are known. For example, articulated trucks and buses may have two or more trailer units articulated together. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,473,127 of Faust et al, a bus having three pivotally connected vehicle units is described. An engine in the tail vehicle drives all the drive axles of the vehicle units through a trail of articulated shafts. This arrangement leaves plenty of passenger space in the front units of the vehicle, and keeps the driver and passengers isolated from the motor to reduce vibration. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 3,899,039 of McHugh and U.S. Pat. No. 3,583,510 of Hastings both describe vehicle assemblies having forward steerable sections coupled to trailing power sections.